Apple is in talks to provide about US$3 billion in capital for Bain Capital's bid for Toshiba's memory-chip unit, adding to financial support from Dell, Seagate Technology and SK Hynix, according to people familiar with the matter.

A plan for the sale of Toshiba's semiconductor unit includes an option for SK Hynix to eventually take a minority stake in the business, people involved in the proposed deal say, contradicting Toshiba's public statements.

It has been confirmed that SK Hynix started mass-producing 4th generation (72-layer) 3D NAND flash wafers and achieved ?˜golden yield', which had been SK Hynix's biggest obstacle. Its solution product that uses its own controller and firmware passed certifications.

Western Digital said in a June 25 letter to Toshiba's board that SK Hynix's participation in the consortium increased the likelihood of technology leakage to the rival chipmaker, adding that the winning bid did not appear to be bigger than its own offer.

Japanese financial company ORIX has recently joined SK hynix to acquire Toshiba's chip business possibly as part of the Korean chipmaker's efforts to soothe negative sentiments in Japan, the Korea Economic Daily reported on June 2.

SK Hynix will decide on whether to spin off its foundry business on May 24 at the earliest or by the end of this week at the latest, according to industry sources. All eyes are on the company's next move as it can improve its status as integrated device manufacturer (IDM) by strengthening the non-memory chip business and seek various ways to reorganize the business by using its subsidiaries.

Toshiba has narrowed the number of bidders for its semiconductor business from about 10 interested parties to a smaller group that includes Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry and Korea's SK Hynix, according to people familiar with the matter.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will adopt the world's first spray-type electromagnetic interference, or EMI shielding technology, for their respective chip production lines from June, according to industry sources.

According to industry sources, SK Hynix is planning to triple its investment in foundry business this year. To this end, SK Hynix recently organized a task force at its M8 foundry plant located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

Toshiba has received bids from South Korea's SK Hynix, Taiwan's Foxconn, private equity fund Silver Lake and at least three other groups for a minority stake in its profitable memory chip business, according to people close to the negotiations.

South Korea's SK Hynix has entered the running for a stake in Toshiba's memory chip business, seeing an opportunity to gain on rivals in the booming NAND market, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics plans to mass produce 64-layer NAND flash memory for the first time in the world early in 2017, while SK hynix plans to mass produce 72-layer NAND flash in the second half of 2017 jumping over 64-layer NAND flash.

In a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service, SK Hynix said, "We are looking into various options, including setting up a joint venture with Seagate Technology, to strengthen the mid and long-term competitiveness of our nonvolatile storage flash chips. But no decision has yet been made."

SK Hynix is going to mass-produce 10-nano-range DRAMs in 2017 and this will be the world's second mass-production of 10-nano-range DRAMs followed by Samsung Electronics. At the same time when it is finished with development of 1x DRAM, it is going to start developing 1y DRAM and also build up its competitive edge for the future by establishing a development team for 1z DRAM.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have clinched no overseas takeover deals for the semiconductor business this year, in contract to their global peers who've been strongly engaged in the merger and acquisition (M&A) activities.

SanDisk has reached agreement with SK Hynix to modify and extend their intellectual property licensing relationship and enter into a multi-year commercial relationship under which SK Hynix will supply its DRAM products to SanDisk. These agreements include a settlement of the trade secret misappropriation suit filed by SanDisk in 2014.

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